Junior Weightlifting World Cup: India win silver, bronze
New Delhi, May 3: Gyaneshwari Yadav clinched the silver medal while compatriot V Rithika finished third to give India a double podium finish in the women’s 49kg category at the IWF Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Heraklion, Greece. Chattisgarh lifter Gyaneshwari produced a total effort of 156kg (73kg+83kg) to take home the silver metal on Monday night. The 18-year-old Rithika, on the other hand, heaved 6 kgs less than her compatriot — 150kg (69kg+81kg) to bag the bronze medal in a depleted 10-lifter field. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and strong favourite Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia was crowned the champion in the category thanks to her total effort of 185kg (83kg+102kg). The gulf between the Indonesian lifter, who won the Asian and world junior titles last year, and the 19-year-old Gyaneshwari was a whopping 29kg with Aisah even declined to take her final attempt. The field was missing lifters from powerhouses China, North Korea and Thailand. The junior world record for the category sits at 206kg (92kg+114kg) in China’s Jiang Huihua’s name. It is the same weight division in which Mirabai Chanu won a silver at the Tokyo Olympics, with an effort off 202kg (87kg+115kg). (PTI)
Rifle association to fund 14 shooters for junior WC
New Delhi, May 3: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has decided to fund 14 non-Olympic event shooters for the upcoming ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. India is set to field a 51-strong contingent in the premier event of the international junior shooting calendar, which is set to take place in the German city from May 9-20. “51 shooters were selected by the NRAI based on the top three rankings. Out of them, 37 for Olympic events are being sponsored by the Sports Authority of India and 14 for non-Olympic events will be sponsored by NRAI,” NRAI secretary general K Sultan Singh said in a statement. “We strongly believe that such quality exposure at a young age will only help them parallelly develop skills for Olympic events in the future as well. Several such examples have been witnessed in the past. Also, you never quite know which event will become an Olympic event going forward.” The Indian squad, which includes big names like Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker, will also be accompanied by a 15-member support contingent of coaches, physios and trainers. (PTI)